Project-75I : Agreement
Spanish submarine manufacturer Navantia and India’s Larsen and Toubro (L&T) recently concluded a Teaming Agreement, to jointly bid for theProject-75I.
- Under this, the Indian Navy will procure six advanced conventional submarines processed through the Strategic Partnership (SP) model.
- These will be diesel-electric submarines, having advanced Air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems.
- Project 75I requires an Indian bidder to tie up with a foreign collaborator and build six conventional submarines equipped with AIP systems.
- The first submarine must have a minimum of 45% indigenisation, with the indigenous content going up to 60% in the sixth.
Air-independent propulsion (AIP) System:
- With the emergence of submarines, there was a problem finding satisfactory forms of propulsion underwater.
- AIP is mostly implemented as an auxiliary source, with the traditional diesel engine handling surface propulsion.
- Most of these systems generate electricity, which in turn drives an electric motor for propulsion or recharges the boat’s batteries.
- A typical conventional power plant provides 3 megawatts maximum, and an AIP source around 10 percent of that. A nuclear submarine’s propulsion plant is much greater than 20 megawatts.
